This is the continuation of the Mel Soaring
series, and it was first intended for Half-Life,
but was then converted to Quake 2. Therefore
a few errors show up when you load the map,
but gameplay will not be affected. Here's
the story: you're on an planet where Strogg
have built a palace to store the remains
of their dead leaders. You're about to make
your way into the very heart of the palace
to place an explosive device right next
to the Makron God tomb, set it off and quickly
escape before the blast.
I had great fun playing this map, mainly
because the textures and sounds made it
feel like a very different Q2 experience,
at least for me. And the fact that the map
was first designed with HL in mind, caused
lots of areas to become just a bit larger
than they normally would have been if the
design had been made directly for Q2. There's
pretty good vertical design in quite a few
places, and the see-through "bars"
that you sometimes walk on looked very cool
and made the map seem very unlike Q2. Perhaps
greater attention to detail would have been
even better, but the textures that are used
make the map look quite good still.
When you are playing on "hard"
skill setting you're facing 131 Strogg.
A pretty large number for one map, and yet
they seem to be very widely scattered around;
it never feels like they are trampeling
each other in order to kill you. It will
however not be very difficult overcoming
the opposition, weapons and ammo is generously
distributed. At one point I had two gunners
dropping a chain gun each right in front
of me, that seemed like overkill; and it
would have been more appropriate if they
had dropped a couple of grenades or a grenade
launcher. A mistake I've made myself in
my first Q2 map; monsters carry different
weapons, therefore make it look real when
they drop things. For instance a gladiator
should drop slugs, a guard should drop bullets.
Gameflow is good, and finding your way
around the map will not be any problem.
The enemies are evenly placed, and as it
should, resistance gets heavier towards
the end. The only thing that sticks in your
mind when the mission is over is the very
abrupt ending. You'll get a text message
to get out, and while in the middle of backtracking
towards the start of the map, the loading
sign suddenly appears, with no hint that
you're done with your task. A door with
an exit sign, or a timer counting down,
anything would have been better than the
way the ending is now.
A good map with great architecture, and
the new sounds and textures suits the story
perfectly. A great effort from a good mapper.
Get it!
Score: 4/5 |